Archive for
April 3rd, 2012

Danny Green wasn’t looking for vengeance or payback on the Cavaliers. He got some anyway.

Green scored 19 points against a Cleveland team that released him last season, Tony Parker added 19 and the San Antonio Spurs coasted to their eighth straight win, 125-90 over the lifeless Cavs, who have lost eight in a row and were blown out at home again.

Green played his rookie season for Cleveland, which cut him at the end of training camp in 2011. He’s found a new home with the Spurs, who built a 22-point lead in the first half and rested Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for most of the fourth quarter while pushing their lead to 37.

“It does mean a little something to me because this was my first team,” Green said. “It’s nice, but that’s not the important thing for me. It’s more important that we continue to get better. We want to keep winning going into the playoffs.”

Rookie Kyrie Irving scored 13 points for the Cavs in his return after missing one game with a sprained right shoulder. But even with their best player back, Cleveland dropped its eighth straight and followed up a 37-point loss at home to Milwaukee with a 35-point setback.

Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson had successful surgery on Monday to repair a torn tendon in his left foot and ankle. The surgery was performed by Dr. Richard D. Ferkel at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in Van Nuys, California.

Gibson will now undergo a period of rest and then transition into a rehabilitation phase, while missing the remainder of the Cavaliers season. His status will be updated as appropriate as he works towards a return to basketball activity.

Gibson is expected to make a full recovery from the injury and be ready for the start of training camp for the 2012-13 season.

The Seattle Mariners have sent a letter to the city of Seattle and King County officials saying as of now they do not support the idea of a new NBA/NHL arena in the same neighborhood as the Mariners home of Safeco Field.

The letter was sent from the team on Tuesday and signed by Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln. In the letter, Lincoln says the franchise supports the idea of the NBA returning to Seattle, but that an exhaustive examination of various sites for a new arena in the greater Seattle area needs to be conducted.

John Calipari said his Kentucky team that faced Kansas in the NCAA championship game Monday night at the Superdome might have as many as six first-round draft picks. If that seems high, just remember that his 2010 team included five first-round picks, starting with No. 1 overall John Wall.

There’s little doubt 6-foot-10 freshman Anthony Davis will be the No. 1 pick this summer if he chooses to come out as expected, and it’s possible forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist could go No. 2, and certainly in the top five. Forward Terrence Jones probably is a lottery pick, and guards Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague have late first-round potential. Senior guard Darius Miller also could sneak into the first round.

What it all shows is that no coach has embraced the economic realities for top basketball talent as fervently as Calipari has. Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Kansas coach Bill Self marveled during the Final Four at Calipari’s ability to manage a program with so many players who leave early for the NBA. Miller is a rare Wildcats senior, and he has played with 40 teammates in four years.

Los Angeles D-Fenders forward Jamario Moon was today named NBA Development League Player of the Month for games played in March. The honor is the first of Moon’s career and the second for a D-Fender this season, with Brandon Costner earning the award for games played in November and December.

Moon (6-8, 215, Meredian Community College), led Los Angeles to an 8-1 record in March, helping the team to clinch the top spot in the Western Conference. During the month, he averaged 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 36.6 minutes. He was the team’s high scorer and rebounder twice last month, scoring in double figures in eight of nine games, including an NBA D-League season-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in a 117-89 win over the Reno Bighorns on March 28. For the month, he shot 52 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three-point range and 82 percent from the line.

For the Clippers, five in a row was a big deal. It had been over five years since the team accomplished what seems like a modest milestone, but they didn’t celebrate it.

They built on it.

Monday in Dallas, everything came together.

Randy Foye was draining everything from the perimeter. Caron Butler got to the rim. Blake Griffin scored easy baskets and grabbed every rebound. The only thing, really, was that Chris Paul didn’t shoot the ball well. That was just a momentary hiccup.

While Foye won’t knock down jumper after jumper most nights, the Clippers are looking like a team that’s starting to figure it all out. The rotation seems set, and the players seem to be comfortable in their roles.

O.J. Mayo passed up one 3-pointer with the Memphis Grizzlies’ lead dwindling in the final minute.

He wasn’t going to do it again.

Mayo scored 22 points, including a key 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, and the Grizzlies prevented Oklahoma City from tying for the NBA’s best record by beating the Thunder 94-88 on Monday night.

“It was a good look. I had my feet set,” Mayo said. “I just wanted to knock it down.” …

Oklahoma City had pulled within a game of league-leading Chicago by blowing out the Bulls a day earlier, but the Grizzlies took the lead just after halftime and never gave it back.

Memphis won despite playing without starting point guard Mike Conley (sore right ankle) and reserve Dante Cunningham (sprained left ankle) for the second straight game…

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 21 points and Russell Westbrook scored 19, with 12 coming as Oklahoma City tried to rally in the fourth quarter. After averaging 31.7 points and one turnover in his previous three games, Westbrook went 5 for 16 and committed four turnovers.

Randy Foye kept knocking down shots for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks did nothing to stop him.

Foye tied a team record with a career-high eight 3-pointers while scoring 28 points for the Clippers, who have their first six-game winning streak in two decades after a 94-75 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night…

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” said Foye, who made 8 of 15 from 3-point range and 10 of 19 shots overall…

Quentin Richardson made 8 of 11 from long range while scoring 36 points for the Clippers at Boston on Feb. 4, 2004…

Caron Butler, part of the Mavericks’ championship team last season, had 13 points for the Clippers, who had lost 10 consecutive games in Dallas since 2006. Nick Young had 10 points, while Paul had eight points and 10 assists.